3:59 p.m.: According to ABC News, an FBI spokesman has labelled the threat “non-credible,” meaning that everybody can go back through security and try again. Safe travels, everyone!

A phone call to the Alameda County sheriff’s office alleging either a bomb or a terror suspect was on board American Airlines Flight 24 from San Francisco International Airport to New York’s JFK forced officials to prevent the flight’s takeoff this morning. The plane, scheduled for takeoff at 7:30 a.m., was diverted to a taxiway, emptied of passengers, and searched while passengers were interviewed.

Soon after Dave Rada and I became friends on facebook I learned that he had a passion for film and I asked him to tell me about his latest project:

Horror of Our Love: A Short Film
I (Dave) produced/directed/wrote and was the monster in the short film. The short film is inspired by the song Horror of Our Love by the band LUDO, they are a great bunch of guys and it’s such an amazing song. Filled with romance, horror, and comedy. I think the song goes hand in hand with the film. It’s also cool to help such a great band reach their audience in a really fun way, and we also really appreciate all their support for the film as well…

We filmed it in January, in San Jose using an all San Jose Crew…Loved filming there because the S.J. locales fit the romantic feeling of the song so well, rather than gritty L.A.!! We got to shoot at John D. Morgan Park at night, something I have always wanted to do, and we only freaked out a few of the neighbors, ha! It’s a good thing we let San Jose PD and Campbell PD know we were filming and had friend and local Detective Todd Trayer on set!! He said there were a few nervous phone calls, but nothing too bad..Whew! .

Phil Grasso was my excellent Director of Photography, Kate Melia played “Girl” and I have known her since high school. She was phenomenal to truly understand the film’s balance of romance, horror, and comedy. It was great to work with my crew, they seemed a bit hungrier and fought along side me hard, NOT against me to make the best film we could.

Since completing the short we have been accepted to film festivals all over the country.
Most Recently the Dances With Films Festival going on in L.A, in June. This is a really great film festival and we are honored to attend….

Last week I spent 45 minutes (the time it takes to get from South San Francisco to San Jose) with Ira Flatow. He is the founder and president of Science Friday. I told Ira that I had my doubts about global warming, so he spent a good deal of the trip trying to enlighten me. Though he had some good arguments, they didn’t convince me (yet) to see the light, or should I say “the warm”. Bantering things around with the good-natured Mr. Flatow was enjoyable. scifri on twitter

Brian Sussman

Today I met Brian Sussman. He was a local science reporter and meteorologist for KPIX, and now he hosts a morning radio show on KSFO-AM. I’ll be reading his book, Climategate, to get his view on global warming.

Stage 1: Mark Caven was the first rider to cross the finish line in Sacramento on Sunday.
Stage 2: Today it was Brett Lancaster’s day on the wet streets of Santa Rosa.
Stage 3: Starts on Ocean Beach in San Francisco on Tuesday. The ride will conclude at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

* Pete Gowdy (aka DJ Chas Gaudi) is host of San Francisco’s Shellac Shack, a weekly 78 rpm listening party and a DJ specializing in vintage sounds: soul, jazz, country, punk and new wave. A graduate of the Vassar College Film Program, he is an associate producer of Marc Huestis Presents, the long-running movie legend tributes at the Castro Theatre.

* Oddballball Films is the film component of Oddball Film+Video, a stock footage company providing offbeat and unusual film footage for feature films like Milk, documentaries like The Summer of Love, television programs like Mythbusters, clips for Boing Boing and web projects around the world.
Our films are almost exclusively drawn from our collection of over 50,000 16mm prints of animation, commercials, educationals, feature films, movie trailers, medical, industrial military, news out-takes and every genre in between. We’re actively working to present rarely screened genres of cinema as well as avant-garde and ethno-cultural documentaries, which expand the boundaries of cinema. Oddball Films is the largest film archive in Northern California and one of the most unusual private collections in the US. We invite you to join us in our weekly offerings of offbeat cinema.

Escape your troubles next Sunday while taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes at the 11th annual “How Weird Street Faire”.

It starts at Noon on the 9th of May; which just happens to be Mother’s Day. Leave your donation* of $10, or $5 if in costume, at the main entrance ~ Howard and New Montgomery Streets. The main entrance is near MUNI lines, and only 2 blocks from the Montgomery BART station. Thanks to the SF Bicycle Coalition for providing bike parking.

The How Weird Street Faire takes place on Howard Street between 1st Street and New Montgomery, 2nd Street between Mission and Howard, and all partial blocks of Minna St. and Natoma St. off of 2nd Street. This is Ten blocks of vendors – wares, food & drink, and non-profit organizations will be there to educate.

Peter Friess (The Tech Museum) and Daniel N. Fenton (Team San Jose) announced that “Genghis Khan” will be the next blockbuster exhibition coming to San Jose.

“Genghis Khan’s brutality is well known, but less visible is the man whose natural leadership formed the first united Mongol nation – no small feat,” said Peter Friess, president of The Tech Museum. “Inasmuch as we carry the dark images of Genghis Khan the warlord, there is also the man who brought us passports, the pony express, printed money, hamburgers* and even pants.”

Much can be discovered about Genghis Khan (1167-1227) the ‘emperor of all emperors’ who united nomadic tribes of northeast Asia and founded the Mongol Empire and Mongolia with a visit to The Tech Museum.

More than 200 13th century artifacts from Genghis’ reign will be on display including:

Tickets:
Children 3 -17 ~ $15
Adults ~ $25
Special prices for seniors and college students.
Admission includes access to all the regular museum galleries.

*It is amusing that hamburgers, the name coming from the German port of Hamburg, originated in the time of Khan. The fierce Mongol horsemen (the Golden Horde) were so busy conquering the world that having to stop to light fires and eat got in their way. Raw lamb or mutton was formed into flat patties and then placed under their saddles. The horsemen could easily grab some ‘hamburger’ at any time.

Modern day Mongolia (see U.S. Department of State) lies in central Asia between Siberia on the north and China on the south and is slightly larger than Alaska.

Ger/Yurt The burning of soft coal by individual homes or “Ger” (yurt in Russian) adds to the polluted air.